


Shatter

by Kimmimaru



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Graphic Description of Corpses, Illusions, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Psychological Torture, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 15:17:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12256923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmimaru/pseuds/Kimmimaru
Summary: Ardynoct week day 3: Illusion.Deep in the bowls of Zegnautus Keep, Noctis searches for his missing friend.





	Shatter

**Author's Note:**

> This contains no smut but does have graphic depictions of violence and psychological torture. I hope this is valid for ArdyNoct week despite the fact that there isn't any romance or sex in it.

Zegnautus Keep, the Imperial capital, was deserted. Noctis ran through it's seemingly endless halls, hounded by Ardyn's terrible taunting through the comms system. When he bumped into any lingering MT's he destroyed them using the ring and his father's sword. He could already feel the heavy drain on his body, it was like the ring was reaching into him, yanking out his very soul and consuming it. It left him exhausted, leaning against walls, panting and weak. However, he kept going. He pushed forward, driven by his desperate search for his best friend. Occasionally he would see him, a flash of blond hair, a swish of tartan. He ran in that direction, boots pounding on the metal floors as he burst around a corner only to find himself crashing into more MT's.

  
  


He was exhausted. His sword arm aching, his head pounding, his muscles cramping. He came to a halt, panting, glancing around him and seeing only emptiness. With a sigh he fell to his knees, head bowed and took a moment to rest.

  
  


“I wouldn't wait too long, your highness, I really don't think he has much left in him.”

  
  


Noctis gasped, eyes snapping open and searching the corridors on either side of him. There was nothing there, only stark lights and groaning metal. With an incredible wrench of will he dragged himself back to his feet and ran on.

  
  


Again and again Ardyn taunted him, his voice ringing in his ears as he flew down corridors, barrelled into empty rooms and slammed fists hopelessly against locked doors. He was frantic, panic constricting his chest and throat as he was filled with an urgency only fed by Ardyn's words. Finally his body could take no more, he collapsed in a room, panting and shivering as sweat dried on his skin. He swallowed and heard the sound of someone walking down the corridor outside his impromptu shelter, he rose on shaking knees and crept closer, sword at the ready. He was too weak to do much but those boots came to a halt at the same time Noctis did. Then a familiar voice came through the closed door.

  
  


“N-Noct? Hey, you there?”

  
  


“Prompto...” Noctis reached for the door handle only to hear a loud tut over the speakers.

  
  


“Oh dear, are you sure you want to do that, your highness?”

  
  


Noctis swallowed, hand shaking, eyes stinging as his sanity wavered on a single thread.

  
  


“Noct...please, don't listen to him! It's me. Let me in! They're everywhere and I can't fight them anymore...please, I'm begging you.”

  
  


Noctis' fingers curled around the cold door knob.

  
  


“Oh my, what if this is all another trick and all that's waiting for you is a group of MT's, hmm?”

  
  


Noctis hesitated, hearing Prompto gasp and move. His friend's breathing was joined by the sound of feet hitting the floor as something ran towards him. The handle rattled in Noct's grip and he groaned, pressing his head against the door.

  
  


“Dude, shit...c'mon man, please...I've got no weapons! They're gunna-”

  
  


There was a crash, a garbled curse and then something sharp was rammed through the door. Noct jumped back, eyes wide and frantic as he stared in horror at the tip of the sword. He watched blood trickle down the metal to drip to the floor. Dread filled him as he reached for the handle, it swung open. Pinned to the door by a sword was Prompto. His head hung low, one hand holding the weapon piercing his belly. Noctis' stomach twisted violently. He swayed, moving towards his friend who lifted his head with difficulty, their eyes met and Noctis watched blood pour from Prompto's lips as he tried to speak. He choked on the crimson fluid, body twitching until his hand fell to his side. Noctis dropped his father's sword, reaching out and yanked the sword from Prompto's body. He let it fall beside his own before catching his friend and dragging him into the room. “Prompto...Prompto...shit...hold on...just-just hold on...” He muttered, hands slipping in blood as he tried to set Prompto down beside a nearby desk. He leaned him against the wall, hands shaking violently as he looked into his blank, pale face. Blue eyes stared ahead sightlessly, his skin stained. Lips parted on words he would never speak. Noctis made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, his bloodied hands went to his hair as his eyes burned savagely.

  
  


“Oh my, what have you done your highness?”

  
  


“No. No. No.” He chanted and reached once again for Prompto, however, before his fingers could touch his friend something cold wrapped around his wrist. His eyes widened, lifting to meet the glowing red eyes of an MT in full armour. Noct was helpless as he was tossed across the room, crashing against machinery and causing sparks to fly. He groaned, rolling over in time to dodge another blow. He lifted his arm as the MT lifted a weapon, the world around them warped, twisting into crystalline fractures. Colour bloomed across Noctis' vision as white engulfed his senses. The entire world shook, a crack appeared in reality as the power of King's sucked the MT through the door it had opened and sent it into oblivion. Silence descended abruptly, leaving Noctis panting, weak and shaking as he remained lying on the cool metal floor.

  
  


“Well, don't say I didn't warn you my dear.”

Noctis rolled onto his side, covering his ears with his hands in a vain attempt to shut out Ardyn's words. He knew he had to get up, he had to keep moving and find Prompto. He had to right the wrong he had committed against his best friend. However, his limbs trembled at the mere idea of movement and darkness was creeping in around his vision, somewhere far away Ardyn hummed and chuckled over the comms system as Noctis' stress-weakened body slipped into unconsciousness.

  
  


He woke some time later to find the world filled with shadows, he was cold, shivering as he lay in a heap on the floor. Slowly, with much effort, he dragged himself into a sitting position. He blinked, rubbing at his exhausted eyes as he reminded himself of his surroundings. He was surprised he wasn't tied up somewhere deep in the bowels of the keep, at the dubious mercy of Ardyn Izunia.

Slowly he managed to get to his feet, swaying where he stood until he regained enough strength to walk over to the door and retrieve his father's sword. He felt numb, his emotions spent the night before. He was still exhausted and knew he wouldn't last much longer, yet he still continued. He had to find Prompto, he had to get him out and find the crystal. Slowly, each foot seeming to weigh a tonne, he started back along the corridor. Ardyn was quiet for a few blissful hours as he trawled the massive keep, blinking as the silence pressed in on him and made him anxious. He was on edge, tired and weak, he would be easy prey for any MT.

“Oh well, finally sleeping beauty awakens! I suggest you hurry, Noct, I really don't think your friend is doing so well.”

  
  


Noctis bit down on his bottom lip as he crept down the corridors, peering around corners and taking out any enemy he saw with fast warp-strikes. It depleted his energy quickly but it was all he could do to prevent a larger confrontation. He worked his slow way towards a set of stairs and ascended, his heart pounded in his chest, pumping blood into his tingling extremities. Adrenaline pulsed through him, putting him on edge and heightening his senses to almost painful proportions. He threw his sword through the back of an MT, his form blurring into a blue trail as he followed. He slammed into the thing, forcing it to the ground before yanking his father's sword from it's back. He crouched there, panting and listening as he heard a faint ringing in his ears.

  
  


“I am impressed, your highness, you're doing so well...However, I fear that your friend is not. Chop chop.”

  
  


Noctis cursed under his breath, rising on shaking legs and wiping sweat from his brow. He ran on, legs pounding the metal floor in time with his heart.

  
  


On and on and on. There seemed no end to the corridors, the rooms, it all looked exactly the same. Ardyn's voice tortured him, he felt panic straining his body, his breath laboured as he finally collapsed once again. He leaned against the wall, staring up at the ceiling as he heard the tramp of heavy feet pass by his hidden corner. He crouched down behind a nearby filing cabinet and tried to take a moment to clear his head.

“Do you really have time to rest, your highness? It would be such a shame if you happened to be too late.”

  
  


Noctis closed his eyes briefly, his chest burning as he dragged himself to his feet and moved on. Lifting his feet was becoming harder, every muscle in his body screamed in protest as he moved onward. He had no idea where he was or where he was going, the maps he occasionally encountered offered little information at all and now they had just become coloured blurs. Every new corridor looked the same as the last, every door he opened led to a dead end. Stairs merely twisted in strange ways, causing him to end up doubling back on himself somehow. Finally he stumbled and fell to his knees, hands catching him and his sword clattering to the floor at his side. Everything hurt. His body, his mind. He fell, arms giving out as he collapsed. He managed to lift blurred eyes up to find himself staring at a familiar pair of boots. Hands reached out, scooping his limp body from the floor and he drifted, up and up until darkness obscured everything.

  
  


He woke laying upon a military bunk bed, he stared at the underside of the one above for a while and tried to work out what had happened. All he remembered was collapsing and being lifted before he had fallen unconscious. He blinked, turning his head to the side as something made a noise. He saw him there, sat on the other bed with his head lowered and staring at his hands. Noctis felt his heart work it's way up his throat, beating rapidly as he pushed himself into a seated position. “P-Prom-” Prompto lifted his head, the movement weird and jerky. Noctis' stomach clenched, he recoiled as his friend's eyes glowed as they fixed on him. “Prompto?” He rasped, his voice cracking as he slid from the bed and shuffled over to his friend, hands coming to rest shakily on his knees. “Are you ok? Hey, what happened?”

  
  


Prompto didn't speak. He only stared, that eerie glow making the hairs on Noctis' body stand on end. Noctis backed off, moving slowly as he realised that this wasn't his friend. His clothes were all wrong, they were black but not a crownsguard uniform. He swallowed and started to search the small room, he clambered laboriously to his feet and stumbled into one of the bunks. He made his way to the door and slammed his fist against it, it didn't budge. He rattled the handle, but it didn't respond. “Shit.” He muttered, unable to stop the urge to peer over at the strange Prompto-lookalike. “W-who...who are you?” He asked, but again the thing didn't respond. It didn't look as if it was going to hurt him either so Noctis turned his attention from it.

After some time trying to find a way out, Noctis finally gave up. He knew that it was likely Ardyn behind his imprisonment and that he would, at some point, be back to taunt him. He could attempt to escape then. Noctis lay back down on the bed, curling up and facing away from the creature wearing Prompto's skin. He tried not to let it bother him but it was highly disconcerting. However, his exhaustion caught up to him and he slept anyway.

He woke again some time later, in the Keep it was impossible to tell just how much time had passed. He immediately reached for his sword but his fingers closed over nothing and he remembered that he had had his magic sealed and he had been taken. He took a breath, eyes opening slowly.

  
  


“Good, you're awake.”

  
  


Noctis jerked upright, that voice...it was impossible. He turned to find another person sat where the strange not-Prompto had been before. His eyes widened, mouth opening but no words would escape the lump in his throat. It couldn't be...His mind rebelled, he drew back, away from the phantom before him. He drew his knees to his chest which was heaving with panic and grief.

“You've grown.” His father observed calmly, sitting on the bed as if he hadn't died. As if none of the terrible, heartbreaking things had happened and it had all been some twisted dream. Noctis swallowed, his throat sore and choked by agony. Regis sat with his cane clutched in his hands, Noctis could see the wrinkles, the fine lines of age around his eyes and mouth. He remembered him. He remembered it all. Fire and smoke rising from the crown city, seeing it all written down his stark black and white; **Insomnia Falls**. Hearing Cor's words over the phone...it all seemed like a lie, a dream, a horrendous nightmare. “Is everything alright, Noct? You look rather pale.”

  
  


Noctis opened his mouth but all that came out was strangled sound, that of a dying animal. He slid further back, until his back pressed up against something cold. A wall. He was against a wall. He blinked, turning to find the wall was painted white and made of...stone? That was wrong, he'd been in Zegnautus Keep, the enemies base.

“Your Highness, it's time to wake up. Your father has a list of duties for you to complete today and we must not be late.”

  
  


Noctis jerked at the sound of Ignis' calm voice, he turned to the door and found the room far larger than it had been. The sheets beneath his clenched fists were black satin, he moaned, hands lifting suddenly to his hair as he stared at Ignis; healthy and whole. No scars. No blindness. Ignis pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose with a frown. “Are you alright, your highness? You look very pale. If you're sick we could inform your father and you may have the day off.”

Noctis shook his head, pressing himself into the corner of his bedroom wall as if he could phase through it and escape. He shook his head, hands curling into his hair, eyes closing tightly. He didn't know what was happening. Where was he? Why was he back home?

“Noct, are you sure you're ok? I'm worried. You don't look well.”

Regis' voice was as soothing as ever but it only made Noctis' chest tighten and his breathing become rapid as terror and confusion boiled within him. He shuddered violently.

“Dude, you're a total mess. Maybe you should go out and we could go down the arcade? You could use a distraction.”

Noctis felt Prompto's familiar hand on his arm, the weight of him at his side. He refused to look. He couldn't really move.

“Noctis, you are neglecting your duties. It is essential that you read through these reports on the trade agreements between Lucis and Accordo. Your father also wishes-”

“Noctis, you're trembling. Should I call a doctor-”

“Noct-”

“Hey, Noctis-”

“Your highness-”

“We need you.”

“We're dying.”

“It's your fault.”

  
  


Noctis snapped his eyes open, revealing his old bedroom but it was in flames. The walls were crumbling and darkness stretched on into infinity. There weren't even any stars. He turned and saw his father's body lying on the floor, a sword rammed through his back and a man wearing strange armour stood above him. Two blurry figures were running away behind a wall. He blinked again and the scene changed. Ignis was lying on the ground, pinned by several MT's as Ardyn strode towards him with a smirk, his glasses crunching under his boots. Noctis moaned, grabbing his head. When he opened his eyes again he saw Prompto tied up to some sort of metal contraption, eyes glazed, lips bloodied and his chest ripped open from throat to groin, his bowls spilling out down his trousers and onto the floor. Noctis gagged, his gorge rising as he fought the urge to vomit. The scent of blood and faeces was overpowering, Noctis' world swayed and grey began to seep into his vision. He fell to his knees, unaware that he had even stood up. He threw up on the floor. When he looked up, wiping at his mouth weakly, Prompto was gone but Gladio was stood before him with a stern expression.

“I'm not gunna follow a king who can't lead. You're pathetic, look at you. How could someone like you ever save the world? We're all dead, Noct. We all died and it's your fault. Iggy, Prompto, Luna...all your fault.”

  
  


Noctis shook his head, trying to deny it but even as he sat there on all fours, Gladio's body changed. Wound's covered his body, he was bleeding everywhere. He fell to his knees with a loud thud, head hanging low as blood dribbled from between his lips. The Sword of The Father lodged in his broad back. Gladio fixed him with an accusing stare as the light left his eyes.

Noctis screamed. The bodies piled up. His father, Prompto, Ignis, Gladio and Luna with her sweet, pale face and faint smile. They crowded him, shuffling closer as they all accused him of murdering them. He tried to deny it, he tried but his voice wouldn't work. He couldn't move even as Prompto grabbed his ankle, even as his father yanked at his wrist, even as Luna held him in a painful embrace from behind. Blood soaked into his clothes, it smeared his skin. Prompto gurgled, his guts trailing on the floor behind him as he crawled up Noctis' leg and stared at him with those dead blue eyes. He screamed again and again until his throat grew hoarse, it tore at him, it hurt but he couldn't do anything to stop it. He couldn't escape their grasping, cold, dead hands. Their fingers were like iron as they ripped at his clothes and he struggled desperately for escape. He couldn't hear himself begging over the awful sounds of their dying accusations.

  
  


Finally...finally someone arrived. Someone warm and alive. Noctis threw himself at them, babbling incoherently as strong arms curled around him. “My, my, what on earth is going on here?” Noctis trembled against the broad chest as soothing hands stroked at his hair. “Calm down your highness, it cannot be that bad, can it?” Noctis pulled back enough to look up into a familiar face. It was flushed pink with life and wore a concerned, slightly mocking smile. Noctis let out a sob and then another until he couldn't hold back anymore. He pressed his wet face against Ardyn Izunia's chest and cried. His fingers curled into his coat, the fabric rough against his skin. But Ardyn was alive and warm. His hands weren't clammy and cold and dead. He didn't accuse Noctis of murdering them. So he held on, gaining comfort from the only source he could find.

  
  


“Come now my pet, do calm down. You're ruining my best coat.”

Noctis shuddered, finally allowing Ardyn to pry him away. “Th-they-” He winced, too terrified to turn and face the pile of corpses he knew was behind him.

Ardyn arched an imperious eyebrow, “They?”

“Dead...all d-dead...” Noctis' teeth were chattering as if he was freezing, he shook so violently that he was almost vibrating. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated impossibly wide in sheer, abject terror. He was still a little mindless with it, gaze dancing around Ardyn's face, resisting the urge to look and make sure they weren't closing in on him again.

Ardyn smirked down at him, lifting a hand and brushing hair from the prince's pale forehead. “Hush, did something frighten you? I must admit that perhaps this place is rather too full of ghosts. They tend to get rather...intense.”

Noctis gasped, flinching as Ardyn pushed him around so he was facing the room again. Noctis stared. He blinked and stared again. Everything was normal. There were several bunk beds lining the walls, what looked to be some sort of vending machine in one corner and a few ransacked lockers. Noctis gasped, heart hammering in his chest but it was calming now. Had it been a nightmare? It had all felt so real. “D-D-Dream?” he managed to stutter through his chattering teeth and shuddering limbs. Ardyn moved towards him, arms out to pull him close again, he was too grateful for the warmth to worry about who was embracing him or what the hand currently carding through his hair had done to Luna. He was in shock, his system hardly recovering and unable to truly question things.

“In a way, my dear. Now, perhaps it is time you rested. You are so very tired.”

Noctis allowed Ardyn to lay him down on the bed, “S-stay?” He asked helplessly, his voice slow and thick as his mind began to shut down.

“For a while, your highness.” Ardyn replied with a pleased little smile.

Noctis shut his eyes, his body giving up the fight to stay awake as all tension drained from him, he sighed and sank willingly into a darkness so complete it blanketed him.

He woke some time later to find the world filled with shadows, he was cold, shivering as he lay in a heap on the floor. Slowly, with much effort, he dragged himself into a sitting position. He blinked, rubbing at his exhausted eyes as he reminded himself of his surroundings. He was surprised he wasn't tied up somewhere deep in the bowels of the keep, at the dubious mercy of Ardyn Izunia.

Slowly he managed to get to his feet, swaying where he stood until he regained enough strength to walk over to the door and retrieve his father's sword. He felt numb, his emotions spent the night before. He was still exhausted and knew he wouldn't last much longer, yet he still continued. He had to find Prompto, he had to get him out and find the crystal. Slowly, each foot seeming to weigh a tonne, he started back along the corridor. Ardyn was quiet for a few blissful hours as he trawled the massive keep, blinking as the silence pressed in on him and made him anxious. He was on edge, tired and weak, he would be easy prey for any MT.

“Oh well, finally sleeping beauty awakens! I suggest you hurry, Noct, I really don't think your friend is doing so well.”

Noctis bit down on his bottom lip as he crept down the corridors, peering around corners and taking out any enemy he saw with fast warp-strikes. It depleted his energy quickly but it was all he could do to prevent a larger confrontation. He worked his slow way towards a set of stairs and ascended, his heart pounded in his chest, pumping blood into his tingling extremities. Adrenaline pulsed through him, putting him on edge and heightening his senses to almost painful proportions. He threw his sword through the back of an MT, his form blurring into a blue trail as he followed. He slammed into the thing, forcing it to the ground before yanking his father's sword from it's back. He crouched there, panting and listening as he heard a faint ringing in his ears.

  
  


“I am impressed, your highness, you're doing so well...However, I fear that your friend is not. Chop chop.”

  
  


Noctis cursed under his breath, rising on shaking legs and wiping sweat from his brow. He ran on, legs pounding the metal floor in time with his heart.

  
  


On and on and on. There seemed no end to the corridors, the rooms, it all looked exactly the same. Ardyn's voice tortured him, he felt panic straining his body, his breath laboured as he finally collapsed once again. He leaned against the wall, staring up at the ceiling as he heard the tramp of heavy feet pass by his hidden corner. He crouched down behind a nearby filing cabinet and tried to take a moment to clear his head...

He froze. Eyes wide. A sense of intense deja vu sent him reeling, he stumbled sideways into a wall as his chest tightened and panic began to constrict his throat. One hand flew to his hair as he stared sightlessly ahead of him. Hadn't he been here before? He was almost certain of it. He had stood in this exact spot before, seen all these never ending corridors and strange rooms before.

He shook his head, trying to clear it as he pushed himself on again. Was his mind playing tricks on him? It was impossible yet there was something...something familiar about everything right down to the pain his muscles. Even the blurry maps were the same, he couldn't make them out and his knees shook violently. He was sweating, skin slick with it. He felt his knees give way as he fell and hit the floor. His father's sword falling from lax fingers.

  
  


He woke laying upon a military bunk bed, he stared at the underside of the one above for a while and tried to work out what had happened. All he remembered was collapsing and being lifted before he had fallen unconscious. He blinked, turning his head to the side as something made a noise. He saw him there, sat on the other bed with his head lowered and staring at his hands. Noctis felt his heart work it's way up his throat, beating rapidly as he pushed himself into a seated position. “P-Prom-” Prompto lifted his head, the movement weird and jerky. Noctis' stomach clenched, he recoiled as his friend's eyes glowed as they fixed on him. “Prompto?” He rasped, his voice cracking as he slid from the bed and shuffled over to his friend, hands coming to rest shakily on his knees. “Are you ok? Hey, what happened?”

And then it hit him again. It made the world sway violently, Noctis felt his gorge rise as he had flashes of memory, of blood, and guts and cold, cold hands. He shuddered but the Prompto before him did nothing but stare blankly at him. Noctis jerked away, shaking his head rapidly. The world swayed again, turning grey as it pitched and yawed like a boat on rough seas. He was either going to faint or puke, he wasn't sure which was preferable. This...whatever it was, was wrong. He had done this before. Again and again and again. Reliving the same things on repeat like a broken record. Prompto, Ignis, Gladio...they were all dead. He remembered...Their corpses. Their cooling bodies lying in bloody pools. His breath hitched, his body shuddering and when he blinked there sat his father. His cane clutched in his withered hands, fingers tightening on the head. Noctis stared, Regis spoke but his eyes were distant. Noctis blinked again and this time he heard Ignis, he didn't look as the world spun around him, colours blurring and the floor see-sawing with such violence he did vomit. Only bile came up, spattering the floor between his hands as he clutched desperately at the floor. When everything resolved itself he found himself in a cell, cold and shivering and weak. A pair of boots stood before him and as his eyes travelled upwards he found his reality. He was filthy, dressed in ill-fitting rags and old blood. His face itched with new facial hair growth, his hair was lank and dirty. He choked on a broken sob, head falling forward. “P-please...not again...not again...”

“And now he begs.” Ardyn chuckled coolly, bending at the waist to capture Noctis' jaw in one hand so their eyes could meet. “How long have we been doing this, your majesty?” He chuckled, smirking down at the man at his feet. “How many years have you been reliving the same moments over and over, hmm? And only now you realise? My dear, sweet king...you wish to escape so badly you would rather I let you live in the past. That hardly seems fair, does it? You remember how they begged? How they pleaded for you to kill them? Yes. It was indeed fun to hear you scream even as your friends did. You wear their blood well.”

Noctis scrabbled at his clothes, whimpering and shivering as he pulled himself free of his captors hands and tried to scrub at the dried blood coating his skin...but there was none there. He halted, eyes widening in realisation.

“You are so fun to play with.” Ardyn mused absently, striding towards the prison door. “Of course they're not dead, as far as they're concerned you went into the crystal...of course my powers of illusion were stretched rather a lot as I imprinted your image into the consciousness. I could not allow the gods to get their hands on their greatest weapon, could I? And now my plans are coming together, I have you, I have the crystal and I have Insomnia. Everything is simply perfect.” Ardyn opened the cell door and Noctis realised where he was, trapped in bowls of his own city. He was home again. He curled up in a corner, burying his face in his knees as Ardyn closed the door with a clang. “It is a shame that your friends all await you in Hammerhead while you remain here, reliving all of your old nightmares. Perhaps we can play again tomorrow, yes?” With that, Ardyn walked away, whistling a familiar tune that made Noctis think of Prompto. He fell side ways, lying on the cold hard floor that was now his bed and had been for many years. With a sigh he closed his eyes, knowing that Ardyn would return to play some more.

 


End file.
